On the bench of the defendants, the frail silhouette and the shifting gaze of Christine B., 40 years old. At his side, his companion and father of their ten children, Marc R., 44, brush hair and marked face. At the Béthune Criminal Court, this Tuesday, January 24, the couple is preparing to face three of their ten children, Bryan, 21, Maxime, 16, and Mélanie, 14 (the last two first names have been changed). The couple, who compares free, is prosecuted for “violence of a minor aged 15 by ascendant” and “evasion of legal obligations”.

The prosecutor requires two years in prison suspended for each of the defendants, with a ban on contact with the seven minors, and the obligation of a parental stage. The court’s decision is reserved.

It all starts on August 30, at 2:13 p.m. Bryan throws a call for help from social services. To save his brothers and sisters, the young man, expelled from the family home at the age of eighteen, recounts the mistreatment perpetrated by his parents. He describes a hellish daily life, punctuated by educational, medical and hygienic deficiencies, as well as violence and insults carried out. The case is taken seriously, legal proceedings are initiated. The parents are placed in police custody and then under judicial control. The juvenile judge orders the provisional placement of the seven minor children. The family had already been known to social services since 2013.

“My little brothers are marked for life”

The first to come forward on the witness stand is Maxime. He lists the insults that rained down on him and his brothers and sisters: “Bastards”, “Son of a bitch”, “Sluts”. The young man with the piercing blue eyes gives some details: “I have already had belt shots from both my parents, it was every day”. The teenager’s shyness in front of the court does not completely hide a hardened expression. His proposals were immediately confirmed by Justine, Bryan’s wife, who added: “I heard a lot of insults”. “I cleaned when I came, otherwise it wasn’t done. The babies were dirty, and played with their excrement, ”she says, on the verge of tears.

It is during a day of greatest violence that Bryan (himself the father of a little girl), then visiting his family, must physically intervene in the midst of yet another conflict. It’s too much for him, he decides to act to protect his siblings. “My little brothers are scarred for life,” he cries, “I’m shocked that my parents don’t think about the consequences.”

He himself had had bouts of violence in the past which led him to prison and he says: “The only thing I would like to say to my parents is that when I was in prison, they said to take my bullshit. Today, I would like them to assume theirs. “An opinion shared by his younger sister Mélanie, who assures the bar:” If you have ten children, you have to assume them. If she (Christine B.) really loved us, she would have brought us to safety”. The young girl says she has discovered a normal life since being placed outside her parents’ home: “We don’t get yelled at for nothing, we take care of ourselves. Mélanie says she now dances and sees her friends more often.

” I could not any more “

Faced with the stories of her children and her daughter-in-law, Christine B. tries to justify herself. “We felt overwhelmed, tired. I couldn’t take it anymore, ”explains this mother. She admits nevertheless: “We cannot deny it”. As for Marc R., if he recognized slaps “on the buttocks and on the head”, he fiercely denies the punches, belt beatings, and most of the mistreatment discovered during the investigation (multiple neglect, lack of school attendance, elimination from housing, immodest attitude of adults in front of children, etc.). In order to justify the fits of anger for which he is accused, he clumsily tries to drown the fish.

According to Bryan, his mother “hides her face” and “is submissive to protect her father”. Faced with the reluctance of the parents, the president is annoyed: “It is obvious! If we hadn’t gotten the call from Bryan, how much longer would it have lasted? What would have been the trigger? “.

The defendant claims, however, to have “signed a contract” last July with social services, “to have an educator” in September. But her children contradict this version: “They didn’t ask for help. The social workers were there, but my mother wouldn’t let them in,” says Maxime.

“I wonder why I didn’t act before. As a mother, I blame myself for it every day”, assures Christine B. “How do you see the family future? asks the president. “I accept that my children are placed and remain safe, she breathes. We love them, they are still part of us. »